Serve and Equip
Growing in Christ Email Series

Mankind Committed the First Sin
Written by: Duane L. Anderson,
Copyright © 2013, 2017 Duane L. Anderson, American Indian Bible Institute 
Distributed with permission by Serve and Equip
Mankind Committed the First Sin 
 
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to understand, apply, and teach the principle that God gave to establish healthy marriages when He performed the first marriage. In this topic, we are going to see how Satan deceived Eve and how that led Adam and Eve to disobey God.
 
Satan was the first to rebel against God. Isaiah tells us that his sin was due to pride. In Isaiah 14:13-14, we see that God said to Satan, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” Satan also led one-third of the angels to join him in his rebellion and they became fallen angels (demons). Here, we see that Satan now tried to get mankind to sin as well. Satan came to Eve in the form of a snake, in Genesis 3:1. “’Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’”
 
We see that the serpent (snake) was more cunning than any of the other beasts of the field. The word translated “cunning” means to be shrewd, sly, or crafty. Revelation 12:9 says, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Here, we see that it was Satan who came in the form of a snake to deceive Eve. Then, in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, we read, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” Satan also questioned what God had said to Adam when he said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Here, we see that one of Satan’s tricks to try to deceive someone is to question the Word of God. He still does the same thing.
 
We see that Eve answered, in Genesis 3:2-3. “And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’” In this answer, we see that Eve had a general understanding of what God had said, but she did not quote exactly what God had said. Eve said that they could eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. Then, she went on to quote what God had said about the tree that in the middle of the garden. In Genesis 2:16-17, God had said, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” These were the exact words that God had said. God did not say anything about not touching the tree, but Eve added that statement to what God had said. Satan immediately recognized that he could deceive Eve because she did not accurately quote what God had said.
 
Instead, God had said that the day they ate of the fruit of that tree, they would surely die. Here, we see that God had given them a choice. They could avoid eating of that tree and they would live; or, they could choose to eat of the fruit of that tree and that very day, they would experience spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation of man from God. Physical death is the separation of the body from the soul and spirit. We will see in the next topic that they immediately experienced spiritual death when they ate of the fruit of that tree, even though Adam did not experience physical death until nine hundred and thirty years later. The fact that Eve had added the statement that they would die if they touched the fruit of the tree helped Satan to know how to deceive Eve because she had added her own words to the Word of God.
 
Immediately, Satan called God a liar. Genesis 3:4-5 says, “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Here, we see that Satan said just the opposite of what God had said. God had said, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” In contrast, Satan had said, “You will not surely die.” Eve had to make the choice of whether to believe God or to believe Satan. John 8:44 says, “‘You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.’” This verse makes it clear that Satan is the father of lies.
 
Then, Satan promised Eve that three things would happen if she ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. First, Satan said, “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” That statement was true. Genesis 3:7a says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened.” Second, Satan said, “You will be like God.” That statement was a total lie. Third, Satan said, “Knowing good and evil.” That statement was also true. Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” Here, we see that they knew they were naked and they tried to cover themselves. In verse 8, they hid from the presence of the Lord when God asked Adam and Eve where they were. Adam said, in Genesis 3:10, “So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself’.” They suddenly knew evil. This caused Adam and Eve to be filled with fear, guilt, and shame. As well, they immediately experienced separation from God.
 
As the father of lies, Satan took two statements that were true and put a lie in the middle. That made the whole statement a lie and Satan deceived Eve with that lie. Here, we see one way that Satan deceives many people. By combining some truth with a lie, even weak Christians can be easily deceived by Satan. Ephesians 4:14 says, “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” Here, we see that Satan uses people to tell lies that will trick weak and struggling Christians.
 
Genesis 3:6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Satan only has three ways to tempt people to sin; he used all three of those ways to tempt Eve. 1 John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” First, we see that Satan tempted Eve with the lust of the flesh. The woman saw that the tree was good for food. Second, Satan tempted Eve with the lust of the eyes. She saw that it was pleasant to the eyes. Third, Satan tempted Eve with the pride of life. Satan told Eve that she would be like God. We see that Eve was totally deceived. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” This verse says that he deceived Eve by his craftiness.
 
Once Eve was deceived, she took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ate the fruit. The fruit was good, but the pleasure was only temporary. Hebrews 11:24-25 says, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” In these verses, we see that the pleasures from sin are only temporary and do not last. Because of the temporary pleasure Eve received, she also gave some of the fruit to her husband since he was standing right there with her, and he ate. One of the things we see is that Adam was with her and did not protect his wife from the deception of Satan. He stood there silently while Satan tempted Eve.
 
In contrast to the deception of Eve, God had clearly told Adam what the consequences of sin would be. Genesis 2:17 says, “‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Eve had not yet been created when God told Adam the consequences. That is why 1 Timothy 2:13-14 says, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” In these verses, we see that Adam was not deceived but knew exactly what he was doing and what the consequences would be. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The choice of Adam means that every person receives a sin nature at the moment of conception. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” This verse shows that we receive that sin nature at the time of conception.
 
In our next two topics, we will explain more fully the consequences of that choice Adam and Eve made. Here, we see that Adam knew the consequences of sin and chose to commit sin in open rebellion against the only commandment God had given him. From that time on, each person, except Christ, has had a sin nature from conception. Luke 1:35 tells us why Christ was not conceived with a sin nature: “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” In this verse, we see that Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit so He was born with the nature of God, instead of a sin nature. That is why it was possible for Christ to pay the penalty for our sin so we can receive forgiveness of sins. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain why Christ could pay our penalty and reverse the consequences of sin in our lives. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain why Christ can set us free from sin.
 
The content for this email can also be found at https://aibi.org/ggfs/ggfs37.pdf along with the entire email series based on the Bible book of Genesis at http://serveandequip.org/growing-godly-families-series/ .
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